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Ballyea 1-21 Glen Rovers 2-10 A truly outstanding performance by Ballyea brought an end to a sixteen year wait when the first time Clare senior hurling champions added the Munster title to their roll of honour at Semple stadium in Thurles this afternoon Their fully merited eight point win over Glen Rovers from Cork saw them become the first Clare club since Sixmilebridge in 2000 to bring the Munster club title back to Clare.     rechampion.ie”);There will be no arguments about the merit of their victory as they dominated this contest, played before an official attendance of 4,583, from the early minutes. Yes, Glen Rovers did enjoy a period of dominance in the early minutes of the second half when they hit 2-1 inside seven minutes but three points was as close as they got to the Clare champions who bounced back with some great points before dominating the closing ten minutes when they outscored their opponents, 0-7 to …

AT this time of year, Robbie Hogan would normally be spending his Sunday afternoons at home watching the club games on TV and aspiring that some day Ballyea would be in that position. Well, now they are. “In fairness, while it’s a bit surreal, it’s all happening so fast the last few weeks. You win something and there is another challenge put in front of you straight away. I have to be honest and say that preparing for a Munster final as the end of November approaches wasn’t on my mind when we set out at the start of the year.” How did he find himself in the position of senior team manager with Ballyea? “I got a call from Michael Keane [club chairman at the time] five years ago. Tom Ryan was coming from Limerick at the time and Michael said it’s a great opportunity to see how these fellas work. Tom came and went and myself and Reggie …

HAIL the Comeback Kings! Ballyea’s fairy tale run to capture their first Canon Hamilton trophy and qualify for their maiden Munster club final has been fashioned with some unbelievable comebacks when all seemed lost. Having lost their first-round clash with Éire Óg, Ballyea had to win the rest of their games to remain in contention for a place in the knock-out stages. This was in sharp contrast to 2015, when the men in black and amber won their first two outings and advanced straight through to a quarter-final. Now in his third year as club chairman, Pat Moylan acknowledged that his charges have produced some extraordinary fight-backs this year during the championship, which culminated in an amazing late flourish to force extra time against Tipperary kingpins Thurles Sarsfields before registering a memorable two-point win. “Ballyea went seven points down against Crusheen early on in that game. The lads dug deep and ground out a result. They did the same against …

While he is adamant that he has not made any announcement as to his plans for 2017, social media is rampant this Monday morning that Podge Collins will concentrate on hurling at inter county level in 2017. “I haven’t made any announcement as my focus is on getting back to full fitness”, the Cratloe man said today. He is presently concentrating on gym work three or four nights a week and is understood to have indicated to Clare GAA officials that he will be sticking with hurling at inter county level. Some weeks ago the Bank of Ireland official confirmed that he would only be playing one code in 2017 but at the time he said he would not say which until his domestic season with Cratloe was over. In 2015 Collins only played football at inter county level after the then Clare hurling boss Davy Fitzgerald ruled that he would not have any dual players on the squad. Fitzgerald …

Clonlara 1-11 Crusheen 0-13 An injury time goal from Cian Moriarty saw Clonlara win the Clare Champion cup (senior hurling league) at the expense of Crusheen in a well contested final at a well appointed Glenomra Park in Broadford this afternoon. In an entertaining game in which the sides were level on four occasions, the result was in doubt right to the final whistle. Indeed, after Moriarty’s goal, Crusheen had an opportunity to draw level or maybe win the game but Cian Dillon’s effort on goal was stopped and the final whistle followed leaving Clonlara as champions for the first time since 2009 Points were exchanged twice in the opening ten minutes before Crusheen opened a two point lead by the end of the first quarter and they went on to lead by three at half time when the score was 0-8 to 0-5. Both sides were guilty of mistakes and missed changes and, in the case of the latter, …

  Ballyea 4-18 Thurles Sarsfields 2-22 A contribution of 1-10 from Tony Kelly was one of many highlights as newly crowned Clare senior hurling champions Ballyea caused a major shock when knocking Thurles Sarsfields from Tipperary out of the Provincial title race at Cusack Park yesterday. The result led to wild scenes of celebration at the end of a tremendous contest which required extra time to produce a result Seven days after their first ever Clare senior title win, Ballyea came from being seven points in arrears with eight minutes to go to force extra time in a tremendously exciting and hugely entertaining contest played before an official attendance of 2,413 in dry but cold conditions. Ballyea had heroes throughout the field as they turned this game on its head in the final quarter which culminated with a Gary Brennan goal, worthy of any stage, which led to extra time There were outstanding displays throughout the team for the winners …

Ballyea 2-14 Clonlara 1-14 Bonfires are blazing across Ballyea this Sunday evening after history was made at Cusack Park in the afternoon when Ballyea won the Clare senior hurling championship title for the first time. [data-ps-embed-type=slideshow] > iframe {position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;} _psEmbed(“http://photos.clarechampion.ie”); In a replayed final they were the stronger team and fully deserved their win over favourites Clonlara on a day when they were never headed. A man of the match performance from Niall Deasy who scored 1-3 together with outstanding displays from Clare football captain Gary Brennan and inter county hurlers Jack Browne, Paul Flanagan, Gearoid O’Connell and Tony Kelly were key ingredients in this victory. First half goals from Gary Brennan and Niall Deasy helped the new champions to lead at the break on a score of 2-5 to 0-8 and while Clonlara fought back to level eleven minutes into the second half when their captain John Conlon found the net, Ballyea simply refused to fold. …

Clare League 2 Galway League 1 Oscar Traynor champions Clare made a winning start in defence of the title when they came from behind to record a merited 2-1 win over Galway at Frank Healy park in Doora this evening. [data-ps-embed-type=slideshow] > iframe {position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;} _psEmbed(“http://photos.clarechampion.ie”); The visitors started brightly and their early play suggested that they might win this one. A superb strike from Jason Molloy as early as the sixth minute game them the lead but Clare showed that they have gained from their success last season and they fought back in impressive style. A foul on Eoin Hayes resulted in a free  just outside the area and Dave McCarthy found the corner of the net to tie up the scores after fourteen minutes. The winning goal was a score worthy of any game at any level. Team captain Stephen Kelly, who was outstanding throughout, won possession in his own defence and having beaten two opponents …